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Due to its location, north of Edinburgh and Glasgow, at the centre of mainland
Scotland and next to the mighty River Tay, Perth is known as the Gateway to
the Highlands.
It is an attractive city, which has been given various other names in its history
such as “St John’s Town”, “The Fair City” and
even “The Ancient Capital of Scotland”.
Known to the Romans as Bertha from the Celtic “AberThe” meaning
mouth of the Tay, Perth has been a Royal Burgh since the 13th century and a
Royal residence throughout the middle ages.
The town centre sits between two large public parks called the South and North
Inches. In 1396, a fight to the death took place in the North Inch between 30
soldiers from two rival clans fighting for supremacy in the presence of King
Robert III.
The Reformation began in Perth in 1599 when John Knox gave a sermon in St John’s
Kirk, a thousand-year old church that was restored in 1920 and can be visited
today.
Most of Perth’s High Street is a pedestrian precinct with a wide selection
of large and small shops and elegant Georgian terraced houses. The city is a
bustling market town in the centre of a thriving farming community.
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